Crews continue to clean up following January storm

Released 15/02/2017

Crews from Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) are continuing to work through the large number of requests to attend to damaged trees following the storm on 13 January 2017 and are asking for residents to please be patient.

“Following last month’s storm, thousands of trees across the urban area sustained damage and TCCS crews have prioritised jobs,” Director of City Presentation, Stephen Alegria said.

“Initially, teams focused on removing fallen trees and limbs that were impeding access to roads, paths, driveways or which were impacting on private property. Once this was completed, attention turned to assessing damaged trees to identify safety issues that required immediate or urgent action such as pruning or removal. This task is well underway and the list of trees requiring attention is being constantly updated through community reporting of damaged trees.

“The removal of fallen branches for amenity reasons is a lower priority and wherever possible this is undertaken at the same time as tree pruning or removal actions to make the process as efficient as possible.”

Mr Alegria further stated that following the January event more trees have been damaged by wind adding to the backlog of outstanding work.

“Additional resources including more personnel and equipment including trucks and wood chippers have also been called in to help teams get on top of the clean up that is expected to continue for several months.

“The extent of the damage may impact on the completion of other less urgent tree-related enquiries and works, but rest assured, tree maintenance crews will attend to it in time.”

Mr Alegria also thanked the huge effort undertaken by the ACT Emergency Service Agency, Roads ACT, Access Canberra and other groups that also worked tirelessly following the storm event.

“The storm was a fine example of how authorities come together to work effectively as a team, especially following the initial impact.

“The ACT State Emergency Service and Access Canberra received 1783 calls for help from 4 pm Friday 13 January till 7 pm Sunday 15 January 2017, many of which related to damaged public trees. We expect our TCCS crews to continue to work in the coming months by clearing fallen branches and tree trunks and complete all outstanding jobs

“TCCS would like to thank the community for their understanding and ask residents for their continued patience whilst crews continue to work systematically through the large amount of work”.

Canberrans are asked to report any safety issues presented by damaged trees to Access Canberra on 13 22 81 or to the Fix My Street page at www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au